Physical and biological properties of phage phi 29 deoxyribonucleic acid.

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) molecules having a mean length of 5.8 mum were released from purified Bacillus subtilis bacteriophage phi29 with 2 m sodium perchlorate. Small 0.1 to 0.2-mum molecules were also detected in these DNA preparations. Since intact single chains annealed to form linear duplex molecules, phage phi29 DNA was found to be nonpermuted. The molecular weights of single chains of phi29 DNA were approximately half that of native DNA, as determined by analytical band sedimentation in CsCl, indicating that phi29 DNA is composed of two continuous polynucleotide chains. The molecular weight values of native and annealed phi29 DNA from sedimentation agreed with the molecular weight values obtained from electron microscopy. The infectivity of phi29 DNA was reduced to a low level by alkaline denaturation and was partially restored by annealing.